For years my fitted sheets lived in a sad, lumpy ball at the back of the linen closet. I told myself it did not matter because nobody opens that closet but me. Then I could never find matching sets and the whole thing drove me crazy.

There is a folding method that actually works, and it takes about thirty seconds once you get it.

Start with the corners

Turn the sheet so the elastic is facing you. Put one hand inside each of the top two corner pockets. Bring your hands together and tuck one corner inside the other, so you are holding a single folded corner.

Repeat with the bottom two corners and tuck those inside as well. You should now have all four corners stacked into one neat pocket.

Fold it flat

Lay the sheet on a flat surface with the stacked corners pointing up. Smooth out the sides into a rough rectangle, then fold it in thirds lengthwise and thirds again the other way.

What you get is a tidy square, same size as your flat sheets, so sets stack together.

Here is the flow I follow:

• Tuck the top corners together.
• Tuck the bottom corners into the same pocket.
• Flatten, then fold in thirds twice.

It took me about three tries before it stopped looking like a wad. Now the closet is actually organized and I can find a full set in two seconds flat.